Dear Ones,

For those of you who have volunteered or visited with us, you no doubt recognized Ste Therese Hospital in Hinche during the campaign this week. So much of our work takes place here! In 2006, Ste Therese was a sleepy little community hospital, under-resourced and understaffed. Thanks in part to your help over the past 16 years, it has grown to be a level 3 regional referral center in the Central Plateau, serving families from all over the area.

In fact, Ste Therese is now a very popular place to give birth, with a reputation for compassionate care. Our matwon colleagues are much more likely to refer women to Ste Therese, as we have spent time deepening our relationships with them.

Right now our most pressing need at Ste Therese is more midwives! If you are interested in sponsoring a midwife’s salary, please reach out to me and I’m happy to discuss this in detail. This is a wonderful project for a community group, or house of worship. we cannot keep up the same level of care unless our staffing can keep up with all the lovely demand.

We often have patients lined up in the corridors, waiting for help, especially in the Labor and Delivery, and our antenatal clinic at Ste Therese is well attended.

We are particularly proud of our expanded family planning program. In 2020, Ste Therese midwives (as well as our community clinic midwives) attended a valuable workshop on contraceptive implants, specifically the Jadelle model. This workshop, put on by Zamni Lasante/Partners in Health allowed us to offer these services to every postpartum woman, before she even leaves the hospital. Last year over 600 women at Ste Therese chose to avail themselves of this option.

Our colleagues Dr Jean Baptiste of the Ministry of Public Health and Population, and Dr Prince, the director of the hospital, have been great friends of Midwives for Haiti and we are grateful for their collaboration.

The difference between Ste Therese 16 years ago and now is striking. While not perfect, the statistics and stories of our patients and staff are incredibly encouraging, and show just how much of an impact we can make. Please join us this year in supporting our work at Ste Therese Hospital. The women keep coming, and we simply must help. As our founder Nadene Brunk Eads so rightfully said so many years ago, “If not us, then who?”

Love always,